Brands are relying on analytics now more than ever to make data-informed decisions, so it’s no surprise that tools like Google Analytics are a marketer’s best friend. Every click you make creates a digital footprint, which companies in turn use for advertising purposes.
While once popular, the anti-tech paper business card is now falling behind. It’s quickly being replaced by digital business cards, which are easier to set up, much more eco-friendly, and can even provide better insight into how people use and interact with business cards. HiHello—the leading digital business card app—even allows individuals and businesses to track their business cards in Google Analytics.
There are two things you’ll need to start tracking your business card data: 1) a HiHello Professional or Business Account, and 2) a Google Analytics account.
Once you have your HiHello account set up, follow this guide to learn how to begin tracking your digital business card in Google Analytics. Having a general understanding of Google Analytics will benefit you, but it’s not required—we’ll cover the basics.
Google Analytics is part of Google’s Marketing Platform. Google Analytics is used by at least 30 million live websites and tracks and reports website and app traffic. This gives marketers, product managers, and data analysts alike better insight into the customer journey, including who’s using their product, where they’re using it, and when. There are two generations of Google Analytics: Universal Analytics (UA) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
Setting up a Google Analytics tracking code with your digital business card will give you real-time data and insight into your card. Before you can set up tracking, you’ll need to know the Tracking ID if you’re on Universal Analytics, or your Measurement ID if you’re on Google Analytics 4.
While similar, Tracking IDs and Measurement IDs differ slightly. Universal Analytics uses Tracking IDs, which begin with the letters UA and is followed by a string of numbers (for example, UA-111222-3). Tracking IDs tell Analytics where to send data, in terms of accounts and properties.
Google Analytics 4 properties use Measurement IDs. A Measurement ID begins with the letter G and is followed by a string of letters and numbers (for example, G-1A2B3C4). Measurement IDs identify the data stream sending data to your GA4 property.
If you use UA, you’ll need to find a Tracking ID. If you use GA4, you’ll need to find your Measurement ID before you can begin tracking your business card data.
Your Tracking ID and/or Measurement ID can be found in the Admin Settings of your Google Analytics account. Once you are in your Admin Settings, read Google’s support article to find your Google Tracking ID and/or Measurement ID—it covers both Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4:
We will note that we recommend setting up a new property for your business card and using that Tracking ID or Measurement ID. If you have multiple business cards you want to track, use different streams to track each business card. This will help keep your card data organized.
Once you have your digital business card set up and your Tracking or Measurement ID on-hand, log in to HiHello’s web app follow these steps to track your card in Google Analytics:
Once you’ve added your Tracking ID or Measurement ID to your card, log in to your Google Analytics account. Make sure you’re on the correct property and click Realtime overview. It may take a few minutes to collect, but data for your digital business card will appear. You can test to make sure the tracking code is working by sending your card to a friend and seeing if the data appears on your Google Analytics account.
Pretty neat, right? If you love data and can’t get enough, you can also track your business card in Google Tag Manager!
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